Actor-turned- BJP politician Shatrughan Sinha has once again questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for spinning “unsubstantiated and unbelievable” stories against political rivals.

Sinha’s comments came a day after Modi said Congress leaders met the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi.

“Hon’ble Sir! Just to win elections anyhow, and that too at the fag end of the process, is it a must to come up with and endorse new, unsubstantiated and unbelievable stories everyday against political opponents? Now linking them to Pakistan High Commissioner and Generals?! Incredible!” Sinha said in a tweet.

Hon’ble Sir!
Just to win elections anyhow, and that too at the fag end of the process, is it a must to come up with & endorse new, unsubstantiated & unbelievable stories everyday against political opponents? Now linking them to Pak High Commissioner & Generals?! Incredible!.1>2

It may be recalled that PM Modi had accused a group of Congress leaders of meeting the Pakistan High Commissioner at Mani Shankar Aiyar’s residence.

Addressing an election rally at Sanand, Modi said the meeting at Aiyar’s residence was also attended by former Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Continuing his attack on the Congress, Mr. Modi said, “There was a meeting convened at Aiyar’s residence where Pakistan’s High Commissioner, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ansari and Manmohan Singh were present. The meeting lasted three hours.”

“The next day Mani Shankar said I am a ‘neech,’” said the Prime Minister. Mr. Aiyar was promptly suspended from the Congress’ primary membership. He also apologised for his comment.

Sinha also advised the Prime Minister to stop communalising the atmosphere and return to the promises that the BJP made in the 2014 general elections.

In true sportsman spirit & national spirit, let me congratulate Rahul Gandhi ” @OfficeOfRG “the worthy & deserving son of Nehru-Gandhi family on his timely & most deserving elevation as President of INC. We all wish him a great successful tenure & an even greater future.Jai Hind!

The Kashmir valley was cut off from the rest of the country as flight operations at the Srinagar airport were suspended and the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and Mughal road were closed for traffic due to snowfall and rain.

The present weather conditions in Jammu and Kashmir are likely to continue till Thursday due to a western disturbance over the state, the meteorological (MeT) office said.

According to a PTI report, The 300-km long highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was closed following heavy rains and snowfall at several places, including the Jawahar Tunnel, and incidents of shooting stones near Panthal.

In Jammu, the Mughal road, connecting Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir’s Shopian district, was also closed after heavy snowfall in Pir Ki Gali.

“The highway and the Mughal road are closed for the second day today. The highway was closed due to heavy snowfall at the Jawahar Tunnel, the Patnitop and Ramban areas and landslides at Pathiyal. There has been heavy snowfall in Pir Ki Gali and other areas en route Mughal road,” police officials said.

In the state’s summer capital, flight services to and fro from the Srinagar International Airport were hit due to poor visibility caused by the heavy snowfall, airport authorities said.

Director of Srinagar airport, Sharad Kumar said, “Air traffic to and fro from the airport has been suspended due to low visibility. There has been no improvement in the visibility around the airport so far.”

“We are monitoring the situation. If visibility improves, we will resume flight operations,” he said.

However, in Gulmarg, the coldest in Jammu and Kashmir at minus 6.5 degrees Celsius, the spell of snowfall brightened prospects for winter sports as nearly four feet of snow accumulated at the ski resort.

Srinagar, which is experiencing intermittent rains since morning, received snowfall till 10 am, while heavy snowfall was recorded in Sonamarg and Baltal, base camps of the annual Amarnath Yatra in central Kashmir, the MeT office said.

Moderate snowfall was reported from across south Kashmir, including Pahalgam, a tourist resort, where seven inches of snow has accumulated so far, it said, adding 3.5 feet of snow accumulated at Sonamarg.

The Srinagar-Kargil, Bandipora-Gurez, Kupwara-Macchil, Kupwara-Keran and Kupwara-Karnah roads were also closed, police officials said. Kargil in Kashmir recorded minus 3 degrees Celsius, Leh minus 1.4 degrees Celsius, Kokernag minus 0.6 degrees Celsius, Srinagar minus 0.2 degrees. The MeT has forecast more snow and rain in the valley over the next few days.

Ending months of speculation and endless questions from the eager 24 x 7 news channels , Indian cricket team captain superstar Virat Kohli tied the knot with his Bollywood actress and long time girlfriend Anushka Sharma in Milan, Italy.

The power couple took to Twitter to confirm the good news to their fans

Today we have promised each other to be bound in love for ever. We are truly blessed to share the news with you.This beautiful day will be made more special with the love and support of our family of fans & well wishers. Thank you for being such an important part of our journey. pic.twitter.com/aobTUwMNAK

Today we have promised each other to be bound in love forever. We are truly blessed to share the news with you. This beautiful day will be made more special with the love and support of our family of fans & well wishers. Thank you for being such an important part of our journey. pic.twitter.com/Scobdiqk7l

“Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli got married at a private ceremony. The wedding was attended by close family and a few friends as they wished their wedding to be a very private affair,” spokesperson of Kohli and Anushka said.

The spokesperson further revealed that the couple will be hosting a reception in New Delhi for their relatives on 21st December which will be followed by a reception for industry friends and cricketers in Mumbai on 26th December.

The newly-wed couple will travel to South Africa where Virat will start prepping for upcoming series and Anushka will spend New Year’s Eve with him and return in first week of January to begin next schedule of a film with Shah Rukh Khan in Mumbai.

Congratulations to the star pair have been coming ever since the announcement :

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has strongly reacted to the charges made by PM Narendra Modi. He accused Modi for allegedly spreading “falsehood and canards” to “score political points in a lost cause.”

“I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than PM Shri Narendra Modi. Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of Prime Minister to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable,” read a statement by the former PM.

Dr. Manmohan Singh shows the ‘mirror of truth’ and gives a ‘reality check’ to Prime Minister Modi, who has been driven by canards & false propaganda in face of imminent defeat in Gujarat. pic.twitter.com/QLQiPQDHxI

Singh was responding to PM Modi’s accusation that Congress leaders had secretly met the former foreign minister of Pakistan and its envoy at suspended party leader’s Mani Shankar Aiyar’s house.

Continuing the scathing attack, Singh added that the Congress “needs no sermons on “Nationalism” from a party and Prime Minister, whose compromised track record on fighting terrorism is well known.”

“My track record of public service to the country over last five decades is known to everyone. No one, including Sh. Modi, can lamely question it to gain lost political ground,” he wrote.

He rejected the allegations, saying that he had not discussed the Gujarat elections with anyone else present at the dinner. Instead, “the discussion was confined to India-Pakistan relations,” he said.

The former PM demanded that Modi apologise for “his ill thought transgression.”

At a rally on Sunday, PM Modi had alleged that the “three-hour secret meeting” was attended by Pakistan’s high commissioner, its former foreign minister, former PM Manmohan Singh, and former Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

He had further charged that the Congress and certain entities in Pakistan may be working together to prevent the BJP from winning Gujarat.

The Indian men’s hockey team produced sterling show to claim the Bronze medal at the Hockey World League Final being held in Bhubaneswar.

India beat a gallant Germany 2-1 in the 3rd/4th classification match to claim their second successive Bronze in the tournament. SV Sunil (20′) put India in the lead in the first half but a poor defending saw Mark Appel (36′) equalise in the second half. Harmanpreet Singh (54′) then converted a penalty corner six minutes before the final hooter to seal the match in India’s favour.

India held onto their slim lead before the capacity crowd at Kalinga Stadium made a collective roar after their team had sealed a second straight bronze at the HWL Final. India had finished third in the last edition of the tournament in Raipur in 2015.

Meanwhile , the Odisha government has announced a Rs 10 lakh cash prize for each Indian hockey player and the coach who were part of the team that won the Bronze medal by beating Germany in the Hockey World League final at Kalinga Stadium. The support staff would get Rs 5 lakh each for the effort. This reward was announced on Twitter by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan too tweeted his congratulations to the Team India for their fine showing

T 2737 – CONGRATULATIONS INDIA !! beats Germany in World Hockey league .. for Bronze !! What an amazing progress for Indian Hockey .!! NEXT league World Champions ! reliving past glory ! COME ON INDIA pic.twitter.com/tfuPC7TG0k

]]>http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/india-clinch-bronze-at-the-world-league-final-upsets-germany/feed/04752Find Out What Oppo Has To Offer in Its New F5 Youth Selfie Smartphonehttp://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/find-out-what-oppo-has-to-offer-in-its-new-f5-youth-selfie-smartphone/
http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/find-out-what-oppo-has-to-offer-in-its-new-f5-youth-selfie-smartphone/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 09:22:53 +0000http://www.impactnews.in/?p=4749Oppo has started selling a new 6GB RAM variant of the F5 flagship smartphone in India. The 6GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 24,990, and will be available in Red and Black colour options.

It may be recalled that Oppo F5 was launched earlier with two models; one with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage and the other with 6GB RAM and 64GB native storage. The 4GB RAM model with 32GB storage is priced at Rs 19,990.

Oppo F5 sports a 6-inch FHD+ screen with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels with an aspect ratio of 18:9. It is powered by a 2.5GHz MT6763T octa core processor coupled with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.

The storage is further expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card slot. The phone is backed by a 3,200mAh battery and runs on ColorOS 3.2, which is based on Android 7.1 Nougat.

Not to rest on it past , The flagship F5 is now out with its latest offering oppoF5 youth. It is aimed to make taking selfies all the more easy. Oppo F5 Youth has a 16MP front-facing camera with a f/2.0 aperture and a 13MP primary camera with f/2.2 aperture.

]]>http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/find-out-what-oppo-has-to-offer-in-its-new-f5-youth-selfie-smartphone/feed/04749Watch : What Are The Eye Catching Features of The Forthcoming Nokia 6http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/watch-what-are-the-eye-catching-features-of-the-forthcoming-nokia-6/
http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/watch-what-are-the-eye-catching-features-of-the-forthcoming-nokia-6/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 08:54:19 +0000http://www.impactnews.in/?p=4746Nokia 6 (2018) runs Android 8.0 Oreo. The phone’s unique features include: A 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display. It has a 16MP rear camera with an LED flash and an 8MP front-facing camera.

The device is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 660 processor and 4GB RAM.

It has 32GB internal storage which can further be expanded via a microSD card up to 128GB.

Nokia 6 (2018) price in India is expected to be Rs. 17998. Nokia 6 (2018) is due to be launched in March, 2018.

The 32GB variant costs around Rs. 17998. The Nokia 6 (2018) comes in only Black colour.

]]>http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/watch-what-are-the-eye-catching-features-of-the-forthcoming-nokia-6/feed/04746Watch : What is new in the latest Oneplus5Thttp://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/watch-what-is-new-in-the-latest-oneplus5t/
http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/watch-what-is-new-in-the-latest-oneplus5t/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 08:34:50 +0000http://www.impactnews.in/?p=4741There are host of other things that one might get in the new Oneplus5T. Here we Look at its features and find out what gives it the edge form the rest and how it is different form its earlier product.

* 1 year manufacturer warranty for device and 6 months manufacturer warranty for in-box accessories including batteries from the date of purchase

Video Courtesy :Youtube

]]>http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/watch-what-is-new-in-the-latest-oneplus5t/feed/04741P V Sindhu Aims To End Year On A High By Winning The Dubai World Series Finalshttp://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/p-v-sindhu-aims-to-end-year-on-a-high-by-winning-the-dubai-world-series-finals/
http://www.impactnews.in/2017/12/11/p-v-sindhu-aims-to-end-year-on-a-high-by-winning-the-dubai-world-series-finals/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 07:48:22 +0000http://www.impactnews.in/?p=4738File Picture Courtesy : Indian Express

Olympic silver-medallist P.V. Sindhu is satisfied with what she has achieved so far this year but wants to cap a successful season with yet another title at the $1000,000 Dubai World Super Series Final starting on Wednesday.

After the high of Rio Olympics last year, Sindhu continued her rampaging run this season clinching the India Open Super Series and Korea Open Super Series, besides bagging the silver at Glasgow World Championship and finishing as runners-up at Hong Kong Open last month.

“It has been a good year for me and I’m very happy with my performance. I won two Super Series and a runners-up and also a silver at World Championship. I have no regrets because I did pretty well this season. Now I really hope the year ends on a good note, that is at the Dubai Super Series Finals, I hope I do well there,” Sindhu told PTI.

“It is not going to be easy as all the top players will be playing in this event. Each match from the first round itself will be very tough. So I will have to be prepared from the start to do well in Dubai,” added the Hyderabadi, who had reached the semifinals at Dubai event last year.

Asked which matches impacted her most this season, Sindhu said: “Each match was comparatively different and in the starting it was Sindhu-Marin and then it was Sindhu-Okuhara at the World Championship and also there were other good matches.

“I think each player has a different style of play and every match is different. Well, not one in particular but I think the World Championship final impacted me the most.”

The 22-year-old Indian has played all the 12 Super Series tournaments this season and she credited her training sessions which helped her to manage the workload.

“Training was going well and I had to be prepared for every match. Every month we had tournaments and I am happy the way I have managed the workload. It worked out fine for me,” said Sindhu, who played five back-to-back tournaments in October-November.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) has revamped the international circuit and made it mandatory for the top 15 players to play at least 12 tournaments next year.

Asked about the schedule next year, Sindhu said: “I think it would be a hectic schedule next year and we have to plan it out accordingly and play tournaments because each event will be important and also we have other important tournaments such as Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

“It’s just that we have to be prepared. I will have to sit with my coach and plan accordingly. The scheduling will depend on the training sessions, how fit I am and how I am playing and also it’s my coach’s decision, so I will sort it out with him which tournaments to play,” she added.

Sindhu, who finished runners-up at the Senior National Championship in Nagpur, said it would be difficult to figure out a window for the domestic tournament next year.

“It depends on the schedule as 2018 would be very hectic. It would be difficult to figure out which month or which date it would be. It would not be easy for me or other players. It depends on the scheduling of the tournaments which I play and I will decide accordingly,” she said.

BWF has decided to trial a new kind of service rule next year starting at the 2018 All England Open Championships and Sindhu said they would have to practice it during training before playing at the tournaments.

“I heard about the new service rule. I think we all have to be really conscious about it, it would be implemented from the All England and we have to really practice it before we play in the tournaments but I think it would be good for everybody,” said Sindhu.

Refusing to hazard a guess on GDP growth in the short-term given the “shocks” like GST, note-ban and the mountain of bad loans, former Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy has said the economy requires two more years to “consolidate” and claw back to higher growth levels.

It is very difficult to make a forecast on economic growth now or say when the economy will return to the potential growth levels of say 7.5 to 8 percent, which is unlikely in the next 24 months, he said .

“In a shock, the negative element is front-loaded. There will be some moderation, and there can be some gains. The pain is there now, the gains will come later. How much gains and in what gap are the issues,” Reddy told a select group of reporters over the weekend, according to a report by PTI.

“My guess is it might take a couple years to consolidate. In a couple of years, we should at least aim to go back to 7.5-8 percent growth,” the former central banker said.

“The shock element is tapering off but the positive aspect is yet to come; and I hope it will come.” Reddy said the economy was helped by a positive shock for almost three years following the massive drop in crude price, which he underlined was at a third of what it was during his governorship.

However, the negative shocks such as the implementation of the goods and services tax, note-ban last November and also the high quantum of non-performing assets of banks have hurt the growth rate, he said.

Reckless lending in the high growth years during the previous government and certain development in the telecom, power and coal sectors following graft charges created a lot of stress in the corporate world and left many of them over-leveraged. As a result, the bad loans in the system has jumped to almost 15 percent, or over Rs 10 trillion, as of the September quarter.

Reddy, whose conservative approach to regulation is lauded and described as one of the reasons which limited the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis, said the potential output growth has come down to 7 percent now from the 8.5 percent levels pre-crisis.

The decline is due to both international factors, where global economic growth has been declining and also domestic issues like the negative shocks mentioned above, said Reddy, who was chairman of the 14th Finance Commission. Reddy said opinion is divided on how to look at these negative shocks, which he said are looked at by foreigners as “institutional changes”.

“All these three shocks, according to some analysts, have permanently affected potential output, whereas some others say it is a (temporary) shock.

“So, the question is how much is a shock? I think there is some element of a shock, some element of permanent improvement can also be there after a lag,” Reddy said. Such shocks, the former bureaucrat-turned central banker said, makes the methodology of estimating growth “undependable” in the short-term.

“In the short-term, you don’t get all the data. You will say this is a proportion of that. In a way, the methodology for short-term forecasting is only an approximation. And when such a shock has occurred, then the methodology itself is undependable. And therefore, whatever number comes, dont even look at it.”

It can be noted that the Reserve Bank is expecting growth on a gross value added basis to shoot up to 7.8 percent by the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, which it feels will pull the yearly growth rate up to 6.7 percent, which was maintained in the December 6 policy review.

Some analysts have said the central bank is too optimistic in its expectations, while some have backed it. “All short-term projections can be subject to more differences of opinions. I am not following short-term forecasting at all; it is not worth it,” Reddy said.

The lingering note-ban impact had seen the growth rate plunging to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in the June quarter but improved to 6.3 per cent in the September quarter. But implementation issues related to GST is still gnawing at the small and medium industries, the impact of this on overall growth will be visible only in the forthcoming quarters.

Policymakers consider any growth rate below 8 percent is below the potential of the economy, whose 1.3 billion people result in a huge domestic market and also its exports penetration. They want to take it up to 8 percent and beyond in the medium-term.